BUFFALO, N.Y. – The acquittal of George Zimmerman for
shooting Trayvon Martin is an example of a country stuck in
“the album scratch of a failing criminal justice system that
both hunts and refuses to protect people of color” and
another example of a judicial system that “discriminates
against some and privileges others,” says a University at
Buffalo Law School professor who has written extensively on law and
race.

Athena D. Mutua, the Floyd H. and Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar
at the UB Law School, said prosecutors did “a poor job”
in allowing the case to be primarily about Trayvon Martin and said
the judge made a mistake, “in typical colorblind pretense, in
not allowing the government to confront the racial stereotypes and
bias inherent in racial profiling.”

Mutua said many have urged Americans to simply respect the rule
of law and jury verdict on the Zimmerman case.

“But the Germany of World War II operated under law and
the murderers of Emmett Till (a 14-year-old African-American boy
who was murdered in Mississippi for making a comment to a white
woman) were acquitted by a jury.

“There are unjust laws and unjust decisions. They
may stand for the moment, because we continue to respect the
process. But the decision itself is unworthy of our respect and
should be challenged. I hope the Justice Department will do as Eric
Holder has indicated and investigate Zimmerman for possibly
violating Trayvon Martin’s civil rights.

“Further, I have sons,” says Mutua. “Are they
not entitled to go to the store in their sweatshirts, buy food and
go watch a game without being stalked, accosted and killed by
someone who likely thinks all black boys in hoodies look
suspicious? And if they are stalked and thereby threatened,
are they not allowed to defend themselves, as Trayvon Martin may
have done? If we agree on this, then the focus turns to the
actions of the aggressor. George Zimmerman, himself armed and
dangerous, intentionally and perhaps recklessly put in motion the
fateful events of the night he killed Trayvon Martin, and he is
responsible for that.

“Though I think people, including young people, should
generally be civil and respectful, I will not countenance, nor will
I counsel people of color to teach their children – their
young men – to drop their eyes, step off the sidewalk or
shuffle in deference to some white person or anybody else who
mistakenly thinks he is entitled to decide whether or not
they belong in a neighborhood or on the sidewalks of America, as in
the days of old.

“This means then, that people of color and other people of
conscience will need to come together to change this system and
ensure that we do not go back to those days -- even if this jury,
the Zimmermans of the world, the state of Florida and even the
Supreme Court through a number of its recent decisions, by way of
subterfuge and obscurantism – seem committed to taking us
there.

“My prayers go out to Trayvon Martin's parents.”

Mutua is available for interviews by contacting Charles Anzalone
in the UB Office of Communications at 716-645-4600 or anzalon@buffalo.edu.

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